Contractor who bilked homeowners over derecho repairs pleads

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Burlington contractor accused of taking thousands from four Linn County homeowners for derecho repairs but never finishing the work has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree theft charges, according to Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks.

Ryan Richard Standard, 50, originally was charged with first- and second-degree theft, but those charges were dismissed in April by a judge who said prosecutors missed a deadline to file trial information.

Maybanks didn’t agree, but accepted the ruling and later charged Standard with the more serious charge of ongoing criminal conduct. The charge was amended earlier this month to a first-degree theft charge, pursuant to a plea agreement.

Maybanks said in an email that Standard entered an “Alford plea,” which means Standard acknowledges there is enough evidence to result in a conviction but maintains his innocence.

“Because (Standard) has not been sentenced yet, we will not comment on the particulars of any plea agreement. However, I can assure you that our office is pursuing an outcome that gives the victims in this case the best chance to receive restitution,” Maybanks said.

The victims

According to court documents, Standard stole over $32,000 total from the homeowners — Steven Kayfes, Jacqueline Burmeister, Thomas Haring and Charles and Amber Cotton, all of Linn County.

Standard did complete some of the work for a couple of the victims, whose homes were damaged in the August 2020 derecho.

Burmeister said Standard replaced her roof. But when she asked him to do her siding, he took her money and never came back.

“I just wrote it off. I figured I was pretty stupid,” Burmeister said.

Haring also had his roof done by Standard, but not his siding, which he had also paid for.

“That was our money that we had from the insurance to help replace the siding and so forth. So we had to dig into our own savings to get it fixed,” Haring said.

Haring said he has mixed feelings about the guilty plea — he’s glad that Standard will be convicted, but he’s worried that he and the other victims won’t get their money back.

“It’s been a long time waiting for this. I’m to the point where I just want to get it over with and done, but I’m not expecting anything,” Haring said. “I’m afraid he’s just going to settle and just get away with it without making payments or anything. That’s my biggest concern. And I don’t want him doing it to anybody else, either.”

Haring isn’t the only one who is concerned about money, despite Maybank’s assurances that his office is pursuing restitution.

Kayfes, who had to postpone his retirement to pay for the house repairs that Standard didn’t complete, said he’s frustrated that he and the other victims weren’t consulted about the plea agreement, which he fears won’t lead to restitution.

“I’m happy about the guilty plea, because I knew from the beginning we had the evidence to convict him. We had it all, and that’s what was frustrating about losing the first case,” Kayfes said.

Kayfes eventually was able to retire, and is going to be moving to Arkansas, but he said he’ll make sure to come back to give a statement at Standard’s sentencing, which is currently scheduled for Oct. 25.

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